The Real Deal New York

The Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn has the highest density per square mile of vacant buildings of anywhere in the five boroughs, according to a new land-use study soon to be released by the city, the Brooklyn Ink reported.

While many homes are in foreclosure, others are properties that owners are “warehousing,” a practice where an owner simply waits until a property is wanted, the blog said. This has led to blight in the area.

The Lefferts Hotel, for instance, has more than $90,000 in unpaid Department of Buildings fines, and has sat empty since 2010.

Community advocates said that all the abandoned buildings seem particularly ridiculous given the high rate of homelessness in and around Bed-Stuy. “There’s enough housing that there doesn’t need to be a homeless shelter,” said Kendall Jackman, a local advocate for the homeless. [Brooklyn Ink]